WEBVTT - Ford Philanthropy President Mary Culler Talks Ford’s $100 million in Contributions

0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:08.840
<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. The philanthropic arm of

0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:12.000
<v Speaker 1>the Ford Motor Company is the first to have donated

0:00:12.039 --> 0:00:15.400
<v Speaker 1>more than one hundred million dollars in partnership with Global Giving.

0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:18.520
<v Speaker 1>Here to discuss that milestone and the role of large

0:00:18.520 --> 0:00:22.040
<v Speaker 1>companies in charity is Mary Culler. She is the president

0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:24.800
<v Speaker 1>of Ford Philanthropy and it's great to have you, marry on.

0:00:25.720 --> 0:00:28.200
<v Speaker 1>I guess Giving Tuesday was yesterday, but we should always

0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:30.600
<v Speaker 1>be thinking about what we can do to help out

0:00:30.640 --> 0:00:35.280
<v Speaker 1>in global crises. Tell us first of all about Global Giving.

0:00:35.280 --> 0:00:38.120
<v Speaker 1>You've been in partnership with them for many years and

0:00:38.159 --> 0:00:39.080
<v Speaker 1>how you work together.

0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:42.839
<v Speaker 2>Well, good morning and nice to see you, Matt and Danny.

0:00:43.320 --> 0:00:46.080
<v Speaker 2>This is a historic milestone and what's really exciting is

0:00:46.120 --> 0:00:48.760
<v Speaker 2>Global Giving has been a partner of ours for years.

0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:52.479
<v Speaker 2>They really serve as the bridge for connecting with nonprofits

0:00:52.520 --> 0:00:54.560
<v Speaker 2>all across the world. And so when we think about

0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:57.480
<v Speaker 2>this milestone, it's not only about the money, but it's

0:00:57.520 --> 0:01:01.000
<v Speaker 2>the multiplier effect that a company liked Motor Company can

0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:05.200
<v Speaker 2>bring with our employees with the expertise we bring with

0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:08.279
<v Speaker 2>our vehicles, and of course we have this incredible dealer

0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:11.800
<v Speaker 2>network all across the globe that all get involved in

0:01:11.840 --> 0:01:13.240
<v Speaker 2>support of these nonprofits.

0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:18.319
<v Speaker 3>Mary, the good news is the contributions you're making to societies.

0:01:18.360 --> 0:01:20.919
<v Speaker 3>The bad news is how many different things it feels

0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:23.760
<v Speaker 3>like they're out there that need this kind of funding,

0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:27.200
<v Speaker 3>be it rising inequality, be it issues of climate change,

0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:29.680
<v Speaker 3>and by the way, all those things happening in very

0:01:29.680 --> 0:01:32.920
<v Speaker 3>many different places in the world. It can be enough

0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:35.480
<v Speaker 3>to kind of feel paralyzing. So how do you afford

0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:40.600
<v Speaker 3>filmthrop at Ford decide exactly where that money goes and

0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:41.920
<v Speaker 3>what projects to take on.

0:01:43.080 --> 0:01:45.160
<v Speaker 2>Well, I think that's a great question because there is

0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:47.040
<v Speaker 2>so much need and so what we try to do

0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:50.520
<v Speaker 2>at Ford Philanthropy is really bring our superpower to the table,

0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:54.120
<v Speaker 2>and so we have really focused on things like disaster relief,

0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:59.040
<v Speaker 2>community building because what we've learned is in partnerships with nonprofits,

0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:02.040
<v Speaker 2>we not only bring the philanthropic dollars, but we can

0:02:02.040 --> 0:02:06.200
<v Speaker 2>bring things like our vehicles. So imagine during a hurricane

0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:09.240
<v Speaker 2>or during some kind of disaster, there is a need

0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:12.120
<v Speaker 2>for nonprofits to have sort of an increase of vehicles

0:02:12.120 --> 0:02:13.720
<v Speaker 2>to get out and do the work they do. So

0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:16.320
<v Speaker 2>we have a loaner program through our dealers for that.

0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:20.240
<v Speaker 2>We have our people. We've extended our volunteer policy so

0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:23.200
<v Speaker 2>that people can deploy when there's a disaster and go

0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:26.040
<v Speaker 2>and actually you know, get in there and help. And

0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:28.320
<v Speaker 2>then the dealer network, As I said, what I've been

0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:31.720
<v Speaker 2>incredibly impressed by is that because we are more focused

0:02:31.720 --> 0:02:34.640
<v Speaker 2>in these areas together as a company, we've been able

0:02:34.680 --> 0:02:38.360
<v Speaker 2>to network together incredible impacts. So for example, you know,

0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:40.520
<v Speaker 2>we have dealers who are doing blood drives, we have

0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:43.680
<v Speaker 2>dealers who are doing food drives, all in sort of

0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:48.160
<v Speaker 2>support of this combined effort. And just recently, dealers across

0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:51.239
<v Speaker 2>the world actually did a food drive and there was

0:02:51.280 --> 0:02:54.720
<v Speaker 2>a donation of two million pounds of food. We've done

0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:57.200
<v Speaker 2>blood drives where the American Red Cross has said this

0:02:57.280 --> 0:03:00.400
<v Speaker 2>is so incredible because you're getting new blood donors. So

0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:03.200
<v Speaker 2>I think a company, if we can find our sweet

0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:06.000
<v Speaker 2>spot like we have in these areas, can bring the

0:03:06.000 --> 0:03:08.320
<v Speaker 2>full power of what you know, we can do to help.

0:03:08.680 --> 0:03:10.520
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. So I mean Ford has like something like one

0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:13.000
<v Speaker 1>hundred and seventy thousand employees, right, but if you include

0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:16.680
<v Speaker 1>the massive dealership network and the supplier network, it's going

0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:21.840
<v Speaker 1>to I imagine grow to millions. You're also very global right.

0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:25.440
<v Speaker 1>I know that you have production facilities for example, for

0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:29.040
<v Speaker 1>example in Valencia where you've been able to help out

0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:32.680
<v Speaker 1>with the horrible flooding that they had. You've been able

0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:36.320
<v Speaker 1>to help out in Turkey where they had awful earthquakes.

0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:42.120
<v Speaker 1>These global crises, do you feel a responsibility to respond

0:03:42.920 --> 0:03:44.560
<v Speaker 1>not just to what's going on in the US but

0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:45.280
<v Speaker 1>around the world.

0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:48.800
<v Speaker 2>Absolutely. And I think what's really great is because we

0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:52.120
<v Speaker 2>have this focused effort around is US relief. We have

0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:54.880
<v Speaker 2>a turnkey, you know kind of moment where we already

0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:58.440
<v Speaker 2>have our nonprofits established. You know, we have the dealers

0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:01.320
<v Speaker 2>sort of ready to go, we have ourmployees ready to volunteer.

0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:05.080
<v Speaker 2>And so recently, for example, during the Texas flooding, within

0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:08.640
<v Speaker 2>twenty four hours, the dealers were already activated, we had

0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:11.400
<v Speaker 2>vehicles on the ground helping our nonprofits, we had our

0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:14.920
<v Speaker 2>volunteers deployed, and we were doing everything we could to

0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:17.560
<v Speaker 2>help in that situation. And I think that's the power

0:04:18.000 --> 0:04:20.919
<v Speaker 2>of a company like Ford. You know, when our backs

0:04:20.960 --> 0:04:23.760
<v Speaker 2>against the wall, there's no better company to kind of

0:04:23.839 --> 0:04:26.599
<v Speaker 2>rise to the occasion. We've seen that throughout history, and

0:04:26.680 --> 0:04:29.719
<v Speaker 2>our commitment community is so great that if we can

0:04:29.760 --> 0:04:32.160
<v Speaker 2>find that sort of sweet spot where we can bring

0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:35.320
<v Speaker 2>the entire power of our company to bear. I think

0:04:35.360 --> 0:04:38.200
<v Speaker 2>we just have a much better opportunity to make a difference.

0:04:38.680 --> 0:04:45.000
<v Speaker 1>You know, the aim of the more libertarian administrations in

0:04:45.040 --> 0:04:47.960
<v Speaker 1>this country is to pull back on what the government

0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:52.120
<v Speaker 1>pays for because then the private charity will step in.

0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:54.640
<v Speaker 1>And I wonder if you feel more pressure on that

0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:58.000
<v Speaker 1>front lately as you cross this milestone.

0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:00.839
<v Speaker 2>Well, we've certainly gotten a lot more. And you know,

0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:02.920
<v Speaker 2>at the end of the day, there's not enough money

0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:05.640
<v Speaker 2>to sustain all the need, you know, as Danny said,

0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:07.800
<v Speaker 2>And so what we really try to do at Ford

0:05:07.800 --> 0:05:11.080
<v Speaker 2>Philanthropy is not only to bring whatever monetary resources we

0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:14.720
<v Speaker 2>can bring, but I think we have these incredible employees,

0:05:14.839 --> 0:05:18.160
<v Speaker 2>these incredible volunteers, and they bring their expertise. I mean,

0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:21.640
<v Speaker 2>for example, recently, food has been a real issue and

0:05:22.120 --> 0:05:24.960
<v Speaker 2>one of our employees was actually volunteering at a food

0:05:25.000 --> 0:05:27.800
<v Speaker 2>bank and she was with our supply chain group, and

0:05:27.920 --> 0:05:29.680
<v Speaker 2>she got there and she realized that the way they

0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:31.920
<v Speaker 2>had set up the entire supply chain for that food

0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:34.520
<v Speaker 2>distribution was not as efficient as it needed to be,

0:05:34.720 --> 0:05:36.760
<v Speaker 2>and so she kind of took it on as her

0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:39.279
<v Speaker 2>own personal project to help them and so they're much

0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:41.960
<v Speaker 2>more efficient, they're getting much more food out every day,

0:05:42.000 --> 0:05:44.960
<v Speaker 2>and so I think that's really the exciting thing is that,

0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:47.640
<v Speaker 2>you know, I'm proud of our employees who always look

0:05:47.640 --> 0:05:49.719
<v Speaker 2>for opportunities to give back and I think in a

0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:50.640
<v Speaker 2>really meaningful way.

0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:52.800
<v Speaker 1>Can I just quickly ask also how closely you work

0:05:52.839 --> 0:05:54.680
<v Speaker 1>with Bill Ford and the Ford family, because I know

0:05:54.760 --> 0:05:59.320
<v Speaker 1>he has been a proponent of the environment for many,

0:05:59.360 --> 0:06:01.719
<v Speaker 1>many decades now and has tried to do what he

0:06:01.800 --> 0:06:05.640
<v Speaker 1>can through obviously the Ford Motor Company assets that he owns.

0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:09.080
<v Speaker 2>Oh my gosh, there's no bigger champion than Bill Ford

0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:12.120
<v Speaker 2>on the community front. You know, he really is our

0:06:12.200 --> 0:06:16.480
<v Speaker 2>north star. You know, he established our volunteer program twenty

0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:20.720
<v Speaker 2>years ago. He's always looking around corners, he's always thinking ahead,

0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:23.760
<v Speaker 2>he's always looking for innovation. So he always challenges me

0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:27.240
<v Speaker 2>personally to look for innovation and philanthropy. And so I

0:06:27.320 --> 0:06:29.880
<v Speaker 2>couldn't be more proud to be a part of a

0:06:29.920 --> 0:06:33.000
<v Speaker 2>company that has a family like the Fords behind it.

0:06:33.360 --> 0:06:35.400
<v Speaker 3>Hey, Mary, so great to hear about the wonderful work

0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:39.280
<v Speaker 3>you're doing at Ford Philanthropy. That's Mary Kohler for philanthropy,